Chowrasia clinches Tata Open title

SSP Chowrasia came up with a stupendous performance to win the second edition of the Tata Open Golf Championship today.

Reported by Indo-Asian News Service

Read Time: 3 mins

Jamshedpur:
SSP Chowrasia came up with a stupendous performance to win the second edition of the Tata Open Golf Championship, the 11th leg of the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour.
Trailing by a stroke on the last hole, Chowrasia made an amazing putt to tie with Ashok Kumar and won on the first play-off hole to win back-to-back titles after the NGC Open victory in the national capital last week.
Both Ashok and Chowrasia played a final round of four-under 66 for a 72-hole total of 10-under 272.
Feroz Ali who led till the 71st hole, hit an Out of Bound on the finishing hole to lose any chance of a second title in the season and finished third.
Chowrasia took home the winner's cheque of Rs 2,43,000 while Ashok pocketed Rs 1,68,000 while Feroz won Rs 94,500.
Vijay Kumar of Lucknow and Mukesh Kumar were tied for the fourth position with a total of 277 while Vinod Kumar and DS Raghuvanshi finished tied-sixth at 280. Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh finished a commendable eighth on 281 while three pros - Vikramjit Singh, Amit Dube and Ajay Gupta - were joint ninth.
Feroz Ali who began with a three-stroke lead played some superb golf and kept the advantage with him till the 15th hole where he bogeyed while Ashok made a birdie to tie with Feroz.
Chowrasia trailing by two strokes, drained a 15-feet testing birdie-putt on the 16th while the rest missed birdies narrowly. The 25-year-old pro then made a superb birdie with a downhill putt to tie with Ashok and the match went into a play-off.
Feroz made a double bogey after going over the green on his fourth shot.
In the first play-off hole, both Ashok and Chowrasia had similar shots onto the green. Ashok fumbled with a six-foot par putt to miss out on the title.
Earlier, "Rookie of the year" for the 2002-03 season Ashok Kumar came up with a determined approach. Sinking a 15-footer on the second for a birdie, the 21-year-old made a bright start.
After hitting the green on his second shot on the par-5 seventh, the Delhi lad missed an eagle opportunity. Nevertheless he made a birdie and made the turn at two-under and was in striking distance with Feroz Ali.
But a bogey on the opening hole of the Beldih course (back nine), the Delhi pro made a bogey and nullified it on the 12th. He made his big move with successive birdies on the 14th and 15th.
Meanwhile, Navtez Singh won the amateur title in a close finish. Navtez tallied 309, two strokes ahead of Karan.
Scores (after 72 holes) (Pro): 272 - Ashok Kumar (74,66,66,66), SSP Chowrasia (68,69,69,66); 274 - Feroz Ali (66,68,69,71); 277 - Vijay Kumar (65,70,71,71), Mukesh Kumar (67,71,70,69); 280 - Vinod Kumar (73,69,71,67), DS Raghuvanshi (71,70,70,69); 281 - Ranjit Singh (71,68,72,70); 282 - Ajay Gupta (72,69,69,72), Amit Dube (67,72,71,72); Vikramjit Singh (67,71,72,72); 283 - Zai Kipgen (73,68,74,68), Sanjay Kumar (69,68,75,71). Amateurs: 309 - Navtez (78,78,76,77); 311 - Karan Taunk (79,76,76,80); 329 - Pawan Marwa (79,77,90,83).